Amnesty
by XMusicXAddictedX
Summary: We all know how the story goes. The knight slays the dragon and saves the princess. But... what if the princess didn't want to be saved? M for themes and language. AU


{Prologue}

"What would you like to hear today?" A young woman asked sweetly, patting the large stack of children's' books beside her. She sat on a large crate, the one used to house various toys of various kids.

"Something beautiful, like a fairytale." a small child, sitting cross-legged at her feet, suggested politely. The teenage girl had just begun to shift through her mass of stories for one that fit when another child spoke up.

"Ew! I think you should tell us something sad, something we don't here everyday."

A small disagreement broke out among the children, some arguing their lives already had too much sadness, others arguing happy endings were not as common as they might have liked. All were silenced when the elder girl raised a hand. Her amiable pewter orbs focused on the solution.

"Alright, I've got it." She decided, turning away from the books to the audience, "I will tell you a fairytale - but with a twist."

No one could object to this reasonable medium. Sick, tired, awake, healing, hurt - the eyes of every underage patient in the hospital were on her. After pushing her sunny orange hair from her face and readjusting her ever present clips, their sparkling blue flowers so often the envy of the younger girls, she cleared her throat and proceeded to tell the story.

"Once upon a time that never passed, in a beautiful town that no one ever saw, a princess with no control lived without ever being born. Her name was…"

"Opal Olivia Oliver of Orenburg!" a small girl yelled, her silliness prevalent in her goofy grin. The woman smiled humorously and continued.

"Or "O" for short. She was the leader of a magical kingdom with no power, with her four best friends to help her - a knight couldn't save, a tailor who couldn't create, a monster who couldn't hate, and a champion who couldn't win. They all loved her, though they did not care, and she loved them, though she cared too much. It was her knight who she dwelled upon most, for he was often occupied with something else. His name was…"

"Strawberry!" another girl decided, again with the humor. Again she accepted it and went on.

"Strawberry. Princess O was quiet content with her life, though she was never truly happy. Her infallible world fell to pieces when a neighboring kingdom from a different world decided to pay a visit and stay forever. They were there to protect her from enemies that didn't exist. Her best friends forever abandoned her for the new ancient society. They invited her to join them but no one wanted her. No time had passed before they decided she would be more useful doing nothing back at the home that was no longer sweet.

"An army of bones attacked the kingdom of souls in the world that no one could get to. Princess O remained in a home that was never hers while her friends slew enemies that were already dead. They were betrayed by one that was never loyal. He took over the army that obeyed no one. The ancient kingdom stood no chance against the solid foes with holes. Their leader had a goal in mind, but the path he was on was no way to get it. He outsmarted the genius kingdom, dooming those who have long since met their day of reckoning.

"But war was not what the dictator wanted. He sent his passive warrior to give the princess a choice that had already been decided. She could follow them back to a palace hidden in the middle of no where and save the lives of her dying friends, or she could remain and let them pass. The locked her away in an open cell, guarded by a…"

"Bat." A sickly boy whispered as loud as his lungs would allow, catching on to the more sinister aura. The woman nodded at the idea, integrating it as she went.

"Guarded by a bat who saw everything. He was emotionless and distant, always pushing despair on her. Through his deceptive truths she began to trust him. Unlike her friends, this enemy spared her no detail. In this overwhelming home of nothing, her insignificance was important. This bat, alone and unloved, unloving and solitary, began to fill the hole he had created when he ripped her away from all that she never fully knew. Likewise, the hole in his perfect being began to disappear.

"Though good he was still bad, though happy she was still mourning. They could never be as they already were. Strawberry rushed to her rescue eventually, and with a heavy heart she was glad to follow him. The bat stood in his way, and though absolute he became nothing. The knight tore him down, and in doing so rose. Princess O was free to return to the confinement of her own home, where no one paid her any attention. The knight that was no longer hers slew the captive she had come to long for, and with that, she was allowed to be forced back into her own seclusion with everyone else."

A few seconds ticked by before a single child was able to speak.

"That doesn't make any sense."

"No?" the young woman said, pondering this thought, "I suppose you are right. My imagination got a little out of control. I guess I was just being ridiculous."

She giggled at her own stupidity as she rose from her seat. It was time for the youngsters to get some sleep and she was in the way. After a round of goodnights and kisses, she left the room. A dark hallway awaited her, reminding her of the impossible story she had just spun.

"Still, though," she mumbled to herself in the dark, "I like the bat better."


End file.
